Redman is looking back on a moment that left him feeling "actually hurt": when The Roots passed on using his verse for one of their projects.
During a recent conversation with Black Thought for Rolling Stone, the Muddy Waters rapper revealed he once submitted a track to the Philadelphia hip-hop collective but never heard back.
Redman said in retrospect, the verse might have been too vulgar for the group.
"I was like, damn, I did a verse for The Roots, and I never heard back from you guys," Redman recalled. "I said damn, you know what, I was cursing a little bit too much. I might have said 'bitch' or something derogatory that they probably didn't like, and yo, I was actually hurt from that, bro."
Black Thought, who co-founded The Roots alongside Questlove, responded by shedding light on what happened behind the scenes. The group's late longtime manager, Rich Nichols, was meticulous with the group's music and played a heavy role in what was included on their albums.
"You know what happened, Rich, rest in peace, who was very much the brains of The Roots operation, ran such a tight ship," Black Thought explained. "It was hard for me to place verses on The Roots' albums. He would shoot down every submission, and there was something about that verse, something that Rich didn't like about it. I can't remember what it was."
Though the song never saw the light of day, Black Thought admitted he personally loved Redman's contribution.
"I was over the moon. I loved that shit," he said. "But yeah, I could tell you why Rich didn't rock with it if I listen to it."